Dead Silence 2 Ashen Redemption
by megamansonicfan105
Summary: My sequal to Dead Silence. The real summary is inside. Later scenes will become rated M for obvious gorey reasons.
1. The Mysterious Package

Summary: Mary Shaw thought she killed the last of the Ashens, but she was wrong. Because one young 15-year-old descendent of the Ashen family survived under a different name-her name was Lauren Mikowski. And, when her father; who was originally an Ashen, dies, she and her mother must go to Ravens Fair for the funeral. But while going around town, Lauren meets a boy who tells her about her family past which her father never told her. And thus, Lauren and her new friend Christopher explore Ravens Fair, in hopes of unlocking the mystery of Mary Shaw and how to be rid of her once and for all.

In a quiet little city, Lauren watches as rain glides down the window pane. She and her mother were waiting for her father to return from work, he had promised to be home before dark, so they could watch movies. Lauren sighed, fogging up the cold window pane.

"Don't worry Lauren, he'll be here soon." Lauren's mom says.

"You said that an hour ago," Lauren whines.

"Well, waiting by the window won't bring him home any faster. Now come and help me set the table," Lauren's mom says.

Lauren groans and finally gets up from her place on the couch, walking into the dining room where he mom was straightening out the tablecloth on the table.

"Grab the plates and utensils and set them up in their right places, I'll go check on dinner." Lauren's mom says, taking off into the kitchen as Lauren begins the set the table.

"What's for dinner tonight?" Lauren asks.

"Your favorite: finger foods. We got chicken fingers and tater tots and mozzarella sticks-you'll gorge yourself." Laurens mom explains.

Lauren licks her lips and she sets the utensils down in their places.

"Yum, sounds good," Lauren says.

Just then, Lauren hear a car pull up in the driveway.

"It's dad!" Lauren cheers.

She quickly sets the rest of the utensils down and hurries out of the dining room, through the kitchen and out into the living room, seeing her dad enter through the front door.

"Hey dad!" Lauren squeals, running up to her dad.

Lauren's dad crouches down, hugging his daughters as she runs into his arms.

"Hey sweetheart, you ready for tonight?" Lauren's dad asks.

"Yeah," Laurens cheers.

Lauren's dad chuckles as the two walk into the kitchen.

*2 hours later*

Lauren and her parents were in the living room, in the middle of a horror movie, when the doorbell rang.

"I'll get it," Lauren says, getting up off the floor and rushing to the door.

She opens the door, finding a package on the step. She tries to pick it up, but it was too heavy, so she drags it in, closing the door behind her.

"What is it Lauren?" Lauren's mom asks as she pauses the movie as Lauren drags the package in.

"I'm not sure, there's no tag on it." Lauren says, examining the package.

Lauren's dad opens the package, revealing a black case. He picks it up and set it down beside the package box. He unlocks the box and open it, revealing a-

"A ventriloquist dummy," Lauren squeals.

She picks up the dummy,

"Aw, he's adorable," Lauren says.

She always loved ventriloquist dummies, ever since her grandpa taught her how to work one for the talent show she did in 2nd grade.

"But who would send us this?" Lauren's mom wonders.

"Probably granddad, or a fan from my 2nd grade class," Lauren says.

"Maybe, but, we can't be sure." Lauren's dad says.

"Can we please keep dad? Please," Lauren begs.

"Alright alright, you can keep it." Lauren's dad says.

"Yay, but, I wonder what his name is," Lauren ponders.

Lauren's dad examines the case but sees nothing then he walks over to Lauren and examines the dummy.

"Billy, his names Billy. Says right here on the back of his neck." Lauren's dad says.

"I like that name, it suits him." Lauren says. "Hi Billy, you're the cutest thing I've ever seen."

"Well, go put Billy in your room and then we'll finish the movie." Lauren's mom says.

"Alright," Lauren says.

Lauren takes off back to her room. She walks across the room and sets Billy down on the chest in front of her window.

"There you go Billy...huh?" Lauren hums, noticing something on Billy's face. "Hold on,"

Lauren walks over to her dresser and grabs her red handkerchief off the top and walks back to Billy. She licks a part of the handkerchief and wipes the spot off of Billy's face.

"Ha ha, you must've had something to eat on the way here." Lauren giggles.

She stuffs the handkerchief in her pants pocket.

"I'll be right back after the movie Billy; your eyes _really_ need a polishing." Lauren says.

She pats Billy on the head and then walks back across the room. She closes the door behind her and walks back into the living room.

*1 hour later*

Lauren yawns as she walks back to her room, opening the door and turning the lights on, she sees Billy on his side.

"Oh dear, I didn't sit you up properly." Lauren says, rushing across the room and sitting Billy up properly. "Now I'm gonna go get the eye polish out of the closet. You stay here," Lauren says.

She walks over to her closet and hops up on the stool nearby, searching the top shelf for the eye polish.

"You know, my last ventriloquist dummy went missing. I think my dad might've gotten rid of it, he says he hates dummies; they scare him. But I won't let him get you," Lauren explains.

She finally finds the eye polish and the polish rag. She hops down off the stool and walks back over to Billy.

"Alright," Lauren says, opening the polish bottle. "Let's get started,"

After an hour of polishing Billy and fixing him up, Lauren slips into bed and quickly falls asleep.


	2. Death at Midnight

*The next morning Lauren*

"Alright, how about we test my old skills Billy?" Lauren asks, climbing out of bed.

She grabs Billy and heads to the kitchen.

"Morning mom," Lauren says and she and Billy enter the kitchen.

"Morning Lauren, and good morning to you Billy," Lauren's mother says, patting Billy on the head.

"Where's father?" Lauren asks.

"He's in the dining room; why?" Lauren's mom asks.

"I wanna see if I still if I have my old ventriloquist skills," Lauren says.

Lauren walks into the dining room,

"Hey dad," Lauren says as she sits at the table, setting Billy down in the chair beside her and scooting him over to her side.

Lauren's dad looks up, seeing Billy sitting beside Lauren.

"Lauren, why's Billy at the table?" Lauren's dad asks.

"What? A dummy gotta eat too ya know." Billy says.

"Very funny Lauren," Lauren's dad says.

"Lauren? Sorry, but you must have sight problems," Billy says.

"Quit messing around," Lauren's dad says.

"Oh c'mon dad, don't be mean." Lauren says.

"Yeah, they say respect your elders, I'm older than you and yet I'm small enough to need a baby seat." Billy says, nasally laughing.

Lauren's mom walks in, setting plates in front of Lauren, Lauren's dad and herself.

"Mm, breaky smells good. Did you put a lil' bit of yourself in it too?" Billy says.

"Oh Billy, you're embarrassing me," Lauren's mom giggles.

"Sorry, I guess you look better in red," Billy says, cat calling after the statement.

"Stop it Billy, my mom's not your type." Lauren says, giggling.

"Lauren, eat your breakfast and quit playing with the dummy." Lauren's father says.

"Billy's more than just a dummy dad," Lauren explains.

"To me they're all the same, just hunks of wood. The only reason I let you keep him was to make you happy. Now just put him away," Lauren's dad says.

"Sorry dad," Lauren says.

After breakfast, Lauren takes Billy back into her room and continues on the rest of the day with him. Practicing more jokes and doing some neat new tricks. After dinner that night, Lauren and her mother head out to go drop Lauren off at a friend's house for a sleepover, leaving Lauren's father along with Billy in Lauren's room.

At around midnight, Lauren's dad head to bed, but not without stopping in front of Lauren's room, see Billy sitting on the chest by the window. His eyes meeting Billy's; he walks into the room, turning the lights on.

"I don't know what Lauren sees in you. She has friends and she has a nice family, why would she need a hunk of wood like you to talk to?" Lauren's dad says.

Suddenly, he hears whispering.

"Lauren, is that you?" Lauren's dad calls out.

The whispering continues,

"Susan?" Lauren's dad calls out again.

Still the whispering continued; Lauren's dad sticks his head out of the doorway to see if they were home. Billy's mouth slowly opens; Lauren's dad pops his head back in and turns, seeing Billy's mouth open.

"What the-"

At that moment, there was no sound, not even the wind. The whispers became clearer, trying to say something; Lauren's dad couldn't turn away from Billy as the whispers continued.

_Beware the stare of Mary Shaw,  
She had no children,  
Only dolls,  
If you see her in your dreams,  
Never, ever, ever scream,_

Lauren's dad blinks out of the fixed gaze and tries to run out of the room, only to be tripped by something. He looks back as he's dragged back into the room. He screams,

Lauren's mother returns home to a quiet house.

"Richard, are you here?" Lauren's mom calls out.

There was no answer,

_He's probably already in bed, the poor thing._

"I'm in the back Susan," A voice calls out from the hallway.

Lauren's mom follows the voice to their bedroom, where something was lying down under the sheets.

"Richard, are you toying with me?" Lauren's mom asks.

Richard laughs but the object under the sheets doesn't move.

"Richard?" Lauren's mom calls out as she approaches the bed.

She yanks off the sheets, only to see a bloody horror. It was her husband; his mouth wide open, his tongue ripped out and his eyes wide open.


	3. Ravens Fair and Mary Shaw

The next day, Lauren and her mother head to Ravens Fair, her father's hometown, to bury him. Lauren was messing with Billy the entire time, but didn't say anything. The two eventually arrive at Ravens Fair, checking into a motel. After being bored for an hour or so, Lauren decides to explore the town. She tries to take Billy, but her mother stops her. So alone, Lauren explores the town. And she soon runs into a boy who seemed quite strange to her. He was an English boy, about her age. He had short black hair and bright hazel eyes.

"Um, hello," Lauren says.

"Oh, hi. You must be visiting here, I've never seen you here before." The boy says.

"My names Lauren, Lauren Mikowski," Lauren says.

"Christopher, Christopher McGuffey," The boy says. "So, what's a girl like you doing visiting Ravens Fair?"

"My father recently died, and my mother and I are here to bury him." Lauren says.

"Oh, I'm sorry for your loss." Christopher says, taking Lauren's hand.

"It's alright, my father said death was always common in our family. My aunt died a while back too," Lauren says.

"Your aunt? What was her name?" Christopher asks.

"Lisa Ashen," Lauren says.

"Wait a minute, you're an Ashen?" Christopher asks.

"What? Why would you ask that?" Lauren asks.

Christopher looks around,

"I can't say anything here, let me take you to the theater." Christopher says.

He takes Lauren's hand and leads her out of town to a lake shore, just across from it were the burnt remnants of a burnt building.

"You see that over there?" Christopher says, pointing out the burnt building.

"Yes, what is it?" Lauren asks.

"What's left of the theater, where Mary Shaw preformed." Christopher says.

"Who now?" Lauren asks.

"Your father never told you about Mary Shaw?" Christopher says.

"No, why is she so important?" Lauren asks.

"Beware the stare of Mary Shaw,  
She has no children, only dolls,  
And if you see her in your dreams,  
Never ever, ever scream," Christopher says.

Lauren was confused,

"That's the poem of Mary Shaw, she was a ventriloquist who had a collection of dolls. And it's said she-"

"Christopher!"

A huge man with pitch black hair and bulging muscles comes marching over to the two.

"Your mother is worried sick! You know better than to wander out here alone." The man says.

"Sorry father, but I wanted to show my new friend the theater." Christopher says.

Christopher's father eyes Lauren then looks back at Christopher.

"Both of you come with me now," Christopher's father says.

The two follow him back to town. Lauren and Christopher say their goodbyes but Lauren was more confused than ever. How could a ventriloquist be connected to her family? And how did she get involved with her family history in the first place? Though her questions were unanswered, Lauren returns to the motel.

Lauren sat in her room, still thinking over what Christopher had told her. She looked at Billy, who sat beside the window.

"Oh Billy, if only I could understand what this Mary Shaw had to do with anything that's happened? If only you could speak, then maybe you could tell me probably." Lauren says.

She looked past Billy, out the window which was fogged by rain. Her eyes slowly grew heavy and before she knew it, she had fallen asleep.


	4. Meeting Mary Shaw

*The next morning*

Lauren wakes to the smell of fresh breakfast. After quickly eating her breakfast, she hears a knock on the door. She goes and sees it was Christopher.

"Christopher, how did you know where I was staying?" Lauren asks, opening the screen door.

"All visitors stay her at the motel." Christopher explains.

"Lauren, who's your friend?" Lauren's mom asks.

"Oh, this is Christopher, the boy I told you about yesterday." Lauren explains.

"Oh, of course, come in." Lauren's mom says.

Christopher enters the motel room.

"C'mon, I want to show you something." Lauren says.

"Are you going to show him your new toy?" Lauren's mom calls out from the kitchen.

"Yes mom, we'll be in my room if you need us." Lauren says.

She leads Christopher into her room, closing the door behind them.

"Where is it?" Christopher asks.

"Not it, _he_. And he's in the closet; mom says to scares her so she tells me to keep him in the closet." Lauren says.

She walks over and opens the closet, picking up Billy and bringing him out; Christopher froze.

"Christopher, this is Billy. He was delivered to my home a few days ago. Just showed up out of the blue." Lauren says.

"D-do you realize what you have there in your hands?" Christopher asks.

"Well duh, he's a ventriloquist dummy." Lauren says.

"He's not just any dummy," Christopher says.

"What do you mean?" Lauren asks puzzled.

"T-that's one of Mary Shaw's dolls," Christopher says.

Lauren froze as well, she slowly sets the doll down on the bed and backs away beside Christopher, her eyes glued on the doll.

"B-but how-" Lauren tries to say.

"I'm not sure, Billy was said to have been destroyed months ago." Christopher says.

"Then how can he be here?" Lauren asks.

"I'm not sure, but we better destroy the thing before something happens." Christopher says.

"I don't think so little ones,"

The two froze, looking at each other.

"Please tell me that was you," Christopher says.

"N-no," Lauren says.

They slowly turned their heads to Billy,

"M-M-Mary Shaw?" Lauren stutters.

"Yes my young girl," Billy says,

"B-but how?" Christopher says.

"I vowed I wouldn't die til I silenced those who have silenced me. And there's still two left," Billy says.

"Y-you mean my mom and I?" Lauren asks.

"Yes Lauren, though, I will probably spare you." Billy says.

"Why?" Lauren asks.

"Because of how well you took care of my Billy and how you fixed him up. You might very well walk in my footsteps." Billy says. "But I'll make a deal with you two,"

Lauren and Christopher were all eyes and ears.

"If you can unlock my secrets, reconstructs my other 100 dolls that were destroyed and bury them in the graveyard in their proper graves. Then I shall spare your mother as well and allow you to keep Billy. And I might even give you some lessons of ventriloquism." Billy says.

"H-how long do we have?" Lauren asks.

"Well, it took me months to create the designs for each doll and to build each one. But to put your skills to the test, I'll give you til' the end of next month." Billy says.

"But the plans were burned in the theater, how can we build without plans?" Christopher asks.

"Only the originals were burned," Billy says. "Look under the velvet of Billy's case and lift up the bottom. You'll find a leather book; the rest is up to you."

Lauren quickly runs over to Billy's case and opens it up. She rips the velvet and sees what looked like an ad for a ventriloquist show starring Mary Shaw and Billy.

"Christopher, assistance please," Lauren asks.

Christopher rushes to Lauren's side and the two lifts the ad up, revealing tools and on top of them, the leather book. Lauren picks up the book.

"I shall be watching you two, so behave." Billy says.

Billy then falls over; Christopher and Lauren looked at each other then at the book with a gulp.


	5. Learning About Mary Shaw Part 1

Later that night, Lauren starts flipping through the pages.

"I see you're interested in my sketches,"

Lauren looks up at Billy, who was sitting opposite of her, then back at the book.

"Yes, your sketches are so well planned. You know, my granddad used to design ventriloquist puppets as well. But he never did get to build them. He suffered from arthritis too soon, so he couldn't pick up the tools needed to build them." Lauren explains.

"Well, if you succeed in this, maybe you can build them for him. You seem like such a dedicated ventriloquist." Billy says.

"You know, I need to ask, if it's not too personal. But, how did you die?" Lauren says, setting the book on her stomach.

"Well my darling, it was a long time ago at my theater. I was getting ready for bed when I heard a commotion outside. It was the Ashen clan. They thought I had kidnapped the heir of their fortunes, so they forced me into my dressing room and made me scream before cutting my tongue out. I died bleeding to death," Billy explains.

"Exsanguination," Lauren states.

"What?"

"That's what it's called when you bleed to death," Lauren explains.

"My, such a bright girl you are." Billy says.

"Thanks, my mom wants me to become a college professor when I'm older. But I'd rather be an actress," Lauren says.

"An on stage person; that's more like you. Being the center of everyone's attention; making them laugh and cry and cheer, it gives you one of the most wonderful feelings in life." Billy explains.

"I know; I figured that out after my 2nd grade talent show. I can still remember it like it was yesterday." Lauren says. "I was all gussied up, my mom had done my makeup and I had practiced for months before the tryouts and even more for the show."

"Did you dance? Or sing? Or act?" Billy asks.

"None, I did a ventriloquist act, with the only puppet my granddad had. His name was Alfred; we did such a good job and tired our best. In the end, we were the most popular and most creative act in the show. And since then, I've always wanted to be a ventriloquist." Lauren explains.

"What happened to Alfred?" Billy asks,

"He went missing," Lauren sadly sighs, "I guessed my dad must've gotten rid of him,"

"Well, we won't have that happen again," Billy says,

"I hope not," Lauren says, picking the book up and flipping through the sketches again. "But are you sure I can do this?"

"Lauren," Billy starts, "Building puppets is like preparing for a show-you can only do it if you know you can."

Lauren smiles and chuckles a bit, "Right," She says,

"I'll just leave you to continue your studying," Billy says,

Billy goes limp and falls over, but Lauren catches Billy and sits him against the window before she continues reading.

/I just hope Christopher is up for this,/ Lauren thinks, /I don't I think I could do this alone in the time we have,/


End file.
